Top 10 Seiyuu with the Scariest Voice

Don’t you guys just love it when you come across an anime character with a really scary and terrifying voice? You know, that kind of powerful and disturbing voice that sends shivers down your spine (think of Vincent Price). A good scary voice is a key element in any character that is supposed to give us the chills. That’s why on this occasion we’ll explore some of the voice actors with the scariest voices in anime.

You may be surprised to know that many of the scariest and most disturbing anime characters are voiced by the same voice actors. This is because these voice actors (or seiyuu) are so talented that they can really portray the wickedness of their characters with their awesome voices. Some of them have very dark and deep voices while some others have a cute but unsettling type of voice, just like the legendary Nobuyo Ooyama while doing Monokuma’s voice on Danganronpa (that upupupu makes us really uneasy every time). Now let’s get down to our list of the Top 10 seiyuu with the scariest voices!

10. Show Hayami

We’ll start our list with one particular seiyuu who has voiced an impressive amount of anime bad guys. Show Hayami’s voice is so evil-sounding that it has earned him roles on such dark and badass shows as Tokyo Ghoul, Bleach, Record of Lodoss War, where he played a fearsome kickass warrior, and on Sengoku Basara, where he did the voice of the sadistic Mitsuhide Akechi. Some of his most memorable villains are Zarbon and Sauzer (Frieza and Cooler’s right hands respectively) from Dragon Ball Z, Enrico Maxwell from Hellsing and the deadly Dark Ninja from Ninja Slayer from Animation.

This is already an impressive resume, but we’re still missing one of his top performances. That’s right; Show Hayami is the voice of the intimidating and awe-inspiring Tokiomi Toosaka. He did an amazing job at reflecting all of this character’s arrogance, apathy and presence. Mr. Hayami’s voice can be quite scary.

9. Satoshi Tsuruoka

Satoshi Tsuruoka has had quite a few roles in anime. Due to his manly and strong voice he usually plays bad guys and scary villains. He’s played bad guys on Gantz, Psycho Pass and even on Yu-Gi-Oh where he did the voice of the scary looking Jinzo. Nowadays, Satoshi Tsuruoka is playing a new villain on Mob Psycho 100 known as Muraki, one of the most powerful and weirdest looking members of the Tsume group.

Part of Satoshi Tsuruoka’s talent is being able to give voice to really twisted characters. In this sense, his most remarkable work has probably been as the perverted Caster (also known as Gilles de Rais or Bluebeard) on Fate/Zero. Satoshi’s voice was of vital importance in giving life to such dark and perverse character. That cynical evil laugh was definitely more than enough to make us fear this character and the extents of his wickedness.

8. Megumi Han

Megumi Han is quite a famous voice actress, as she’s had major roles on very popular shows like Hunter x Hunter (where she played no other than Gon Freecs), Ore Monogatari, Mushibugyo and even Naruto Shippuden. However, she has also played really dark characters such as Jeanne D’Arc from Shingeki no Bahamut, Benio Adashino from Twin Star Exorcists and Alma Karma from D.Gray-man Hallow. As you can see, Megumi han has a very versatile voice and can do anything from cute girls and cool superpowered boys to dark and mysterious characters.

Megumi Han can make such an unsettling voice in fact that she was hired to participate on the last Tokyo Ghoul OVA, Tokyo Ghoul: “Pinto”. On this OVA she plays Chie Hori, also known as “Little Mouse”, who is a young girl that loves to capture the most gruesome and sickening events (like ghouls eating) on camera. This little girl’s interests and her personality are far more disturbing than most ghouls, and Megumi Han does an amazing job at portraying such sinister girl.

7. Banjou Ginga

Banjou Ginga probably has one of the strongest and most manly voices in anime. He has worked on over a hundred different anime, mostly acting as villains and tough guys. He is most renowned for playing imposing men such as Cassios from Saint Seiya, King Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z and the frightful Mad Pierrot from Cowboy Bebop.

Banjou Ginga’s voice is so powerful and deep that, pretty much regardless of the character he’s playing, the message he conveys as he speaks is “don’t mess with me”. Of course, that’s also what the looks of most of his characters also say, so Banjou Ginga can really express through his voice what these characters are all about. And clearly, most of them are all about being fearsome and dangerous.

6. Rintarou Nishi

Rintarou Nishi is also another guy who has such a strong and scary voice that he always plays intimidating villains. He’s portrayed bad guys in popular shows such as Soul Eater, Bleach, Death Note and Cowboy Bebop. Rintarou’s greatest role as a scary villain so far has been on Tokyo Ghoul as the fearsome Yakumo Oomori, better known as Jason (also Yamori).

Rintarou Nishi’s voice when playing Jason is the horror movie monster’s type of voice. It is not subtle or insidious like a psycho girl’s voice but rather strong and frightening. Jason’s tone of voice does not hide the fact that he wants to hurt you in unimaginable ways, in fact it’s a warning of the horrors to come. Rintarou Nishi has the talent to make his characters quite dreadful.

5. Jouji Nakata

Jouji Nakata has without a doubt one of the best male voices in anime. He’s pretty much like a Japanese version of Morgan Freeman. Mr. Nakata’s strong and masculine voice is quite famous in the world of anime, especially due to his works on Code Geass, Darker than Black, and as the powerful wizard Childman on Majutsushi Orphen.

Obviously, these are not nearly his scariest works. Jouji Nakata has also played the roles of the deadly Alucard in Hellsing and of the terrible mage killer Kotomine Kirei on Fate/Zero. This talented seiyuu was particularly able to portray these characters calmed yet terrifying nature with his voice. Such calmness emanating from such dreadful characters certainly transmits a feeling of doom that perhaps no other voice actor could convey so successfully.

4. Nozomu Sasaki

Nozomu Sasaki is one of those seiyuu who, besides having a cool sounding masculine voice, can pull a particularly unsettling tone. He has played numerous major roles on several famous anime dating as far back as the 80s. Some of his greatest works are as Tetsuo Shima on Akira and as Mello on Death Note.

These two characters are indeed quite ruthless, self-centered and at some point even a bit scary since we don’t really know what they’re capable of. Still, they don’t get close to being as dreadful and disturbing as the character of Johan Liebert from Monster. This is one of Sasaki’s greatest performances as he gives life to this monster with his soft and dark voice; a voice that transmits pain, suffering and sheer horror.

3. Mamoru Miyano

Mamoru Miyano is absolutely huge in the anime industry. He’s surely the most popular seiyuu on our list and he has worked on more shows than you can imagine. Miyano is a very versatile actor as he can take all kinds of roles, but in general he likes to play either bad guys or characters who lack empathy.

Some very illustrating examples of this are his roles as Yagami Light on Death Note, Death the Kid on Soul Eater, Shuu Tsukiyama on Tokyo Ghoul, Nagai Kei on Ajin, Pandora’s Actor on Overlord, Amai Mask on OPM and the more recent Amatori Biba on Koutetsujou no Kabaneri. All of these characters without exception are scary in their own way, some more than others of course, and Miyano’s voice really contributed to that. But what really earns Mamoru Miyano a spot at the top 3 of our list is without question his insane laugh as Kira. That is definitely the scariest laugh ever!

2. Rikiya Koyama

Rikiya Koyama is an awesome and most talented voice actor. He has that kind of tough samurai voice that can intimidate even the bravest. His voice is so powerful and frightening that he was offered to play such badass and imposing characters as the Deep Sea King on OPM, Aldebaran Taurus on Saint Seiya, Tora on Ushio to Tora (TV), Mamoru Takamura on Hajime no Ippo and Wolverine on the anime adaptations of X-Men and Wolverine.

Rikiya Koyama’s most popular works have been as the voice actor of Lord Death on Soul Eater and of Emiya Kiritsugu on Fate/Zero. Although quite different from each other, these are clearly two of his best performances. As the Shinigami, Koyama does a sharp, dark and irritating voice, while as Emiya Kiritsugu, he goes for a deeper tone that defines such dark and emotionless character. Rikiya Koyama’s voice is, in all of its varieties, one of the scariest voices in anime.

Fate/zero Ep 1

1. Norio Wakamoto

And finally we have Norio Wakamoto, THE scariest voice in anime. He has played several roles in anime for many years and he has done everything, although being scary is his trademark. Some of his most popular works are as Alexander Anderson on Hellsing Ultimate, Deus ex Machina on Mirai Nikki, Gambino (Guts’ father) on Berserk and as Charles zi Britannia on Code Geass.

That’s right, Norio Wakamoto’s voice is so strong and so evil sounding that he mostly plays evil and scary characters. But if those performances are not enough to convince you that Wakamoto’s voice is the scariest around, then guess which legendary fearsome villain he’s also portrayed. Wakamoto has done the voice of none other than the terrible Cell on Dragon Ball Z. This man definitely has the voice of an invincible monster who comes to bring chaos and destruction.

Dragon Ball KAI Ep 56 Eyecatch

Conclusion

Thanks guys for stopping by. We hope you’ve enjoyed our list of scariest seiyuu. You can now tell us what you think about these people and what you think of their work. Also, can you think of any really scary voice actor/actress or character that we may have missed? Do they give you goosebumps every time you hear their scary voices? Let us know in the comments! ˆ-ˆ

Translator/Writer

Author: Chanty

My name is Santiago and I'm an aspiring writer and full-time dreamer. I am currently studying English at college to become a teacher. I like playing Heavy Metal on my guitar as much as I like dancing to Trance music, and I love playing Basketball with my friends as much as I love staying home alone watching Anime. Opposite forces are complementary and interdependent; that is the Yin Yang.